Germany GDP decreased 0.1% in the second quarter compared to the previous quarter

Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) said, in the second quarter of 2019, the real (price-adjusted) gross domestic product in Germany decreased by 0.1% on the first quarter of 2019, after adjustment for seasonal and calendar variations. The first quarter of 2019 showed an increase of 0.4% compared with the fourth quarter of 2018.

The quarter-on-quarter comparison (in real terms and adjusted for seasonal and calendar variations) shows that positive contributions came from domestic demand, according to provisional calculations. Compared with the first quarter, household final consumption expenditure increased, together with government final consumption expenditure. In addition, more was invested than in the first quarter, however, gross fixed capital formation in construction declined. The development of foreign trade slowed down economic growth because exports recorded a stronger quarter-on-quarter decrease than imports.

Compared with the previous year, real GDP stagnated. After calendar adjustment, GDP was up by 0.4% because the second quarter of 2019 had one working day less than the same quarter a year earlier. Economists had expected a 0.1% increase. In the first quarter of 2019, real GDP was 0.8% (calendar adjusted: 0.9%) higher than in the same quarter of the preceding year.